More than just the Fonz…

Milwaukee was lucky enough to have quite a few celebrities around today. We had members of the casts of both Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley visiting on this momentous occasion.

See, today was the unveiling of the “Bronz Fonz”.

As many of you know, Milwaukee was the setting of the popular TV show, Happy Days. To celebrate this part of our notoriety history, a bronze statue of Henry Winkler (aka the Fonz) was put up down by the lakefront. To use his immoral words “cool”.

I myself am a huge Henry Winkler fan, but not for the reason that many other people are. I am a fan of his children’s books. Far fewer people know that Mr. Winkler is not only an author, but a REALLY GOOD author. He has written a series of books about the many adventures and predicaments of Hank Zipzer.

These books were a huge hit with my fourth graders every year. Hank suffers from a slight learning disability and the stories put him in funny, but very realistic situations. The kids loved reading about a student who made mistakes, but was able to keep on going anyway.

The books never sugar-coated the challenges Hank faced, but told his story with the perfect mix of humor and compassion. Most likely, Mr. Winkler’s ability to relate to these kinds of situations comes from his own struggles in school. As a student with a learning disability himself, Mr. Winkler truly understands the struggles his character faces.

If you have a third through sixth grader at home or are a teacher of these grades, I highly recommend picking up these books. The collection is available at Amazon and is a steal at under $14.